It was a lovely day at de Bridge. SaraFerret was sweeping up de debris
in de cottage with de help of de kits. Which as any Mommy can tell you
is more trouble than it is worth. She spent a lot of time with de kits
getting in de way of de broom before finally handing de broom to dem
telling dem to to it. She decided to supervise. Big broom, small
kits--so dere dey were. Finally dey finished. Dey even put all dere
toys away. Then we heard a loud knock at de door. It got louder. Serena
went to open it and almost got flattened when Dexter, de little boy
courier, opened it very hard and pushed her against de wall. She
started to wail and Dexter was startled. He felt very guilty and went
to her and consoled her. (Unusual for him as when he did it to me, he
just ask me why I was hanging around by de wall and not doing anything
but oh well). But Serena quieted down with a ferretvite treat and
Dexter told me what was happening.

"SawaFewwet, I has an important message from the Boss. A fewwet is
cwossing de Bwidge and he needs you to gweet him. You has best gets
busy. You knows how slow you is. Slow as molasses in January, or so
I has been told. Is there anyones you wants me to get?"

(Biting my tongue to keep from saying anything) I took de note from
Dexter I read it and told him who to get (hoping he wouldn't get a
skunk or a snapdragon) and sent him on his way. Then I ran to de
entrance. I was just in time to see a handsome chocolate mitt with
a heavy backpack at de entrance. So I introduced myself,

"Hi I am SaraFerret and I am de bridgegreeter. Welcome to de Rainbow
Bridge. Dis is your new forever home. Here you will have no more pain
or suffering. You will run on green grass forever and have lotsa
friends to play with. Did I mention de fun and games?"

He looked at me and said, "Mommy told me that I would be going to some
place new. And that I would be meeting some friends. I don't see them.
You are just some girl ferret. OOPS! Sorry, didn't mean to be rude.
Mommy told me to be sure and be polite. I am not usually a naughty
ferret. Its just that I didn't really want to leave home, but she said
that it was my time to cross. Where are all these friends? I sure hope
Mommy wasn't telling me stories just to make me feel better. I guess
you and I can be friends. I can get along with just about anyone. Do
you like to run and play? Do you like squeaky toys? I brought one with
me to show my friends, but since they aren't here... Mommy was sure
good to me; do you know my Mommy? Oh yeah, forgot to tell you, my name
is Zippie--bet you will never guess why she called me that."

I replied, "No need to apologize for calling me just a girl; I have
been called much worse. You will see your friends later if you can be
patient just a bit longer. I like to run and play just like any other
fuzzy, but I don't care much for squeakies. They just drive my ears
crazy. I don't know your Mommy, but she did send this nice note saying
how much she loved you. And I can just guess why she called you Zippie
because you ran all over de place. Oh, by de way, whatever are you
carrying in dat heavy backpack? Don't worry I am not gonna take
anything away from you; I am just nosey like any fuzzy. It has been
so long since I was on earth that I wanna see what fuzzies carry with
them when dey cross?"

He replied, "Okay I'll show it as long as its that way. Its too bad
its been that long for you. Don't you have toys here?" He carefully
unzipped his pack and took out a blue and white terrycloth elephant
that squeaked. I covered my ears. But we looked at it and I admired
his precious toy. Then he put it away and zipped it back up, so he
could show everyone.

I said, "Zippie, we do have toys here. In fact I make some. Crochet
eggs and things like that. I make little crochet toys for de kits so
they can play with them too, cause they are so small that big toys
scare them. But we have bigger toys too. And just wait till you see
things like de Otter Mudslide. Your friends will show you that. But
I have another surprise for you; you are gonna get wings, just like
mine--well not exactly like mine. They are gonna be boy wings, special
wings designed for you. They are great for flying about de heavens,
sure beats hopping from cloud to cloud."

We went down de path to de Wing House where de wings were stored where
we met Winston, who introduced himself, "Hi Zippie, I have been
watching you and waiting for you. You won't be lonely here. There are
a couple of others here who will live with you too." (Needless to say,
Zippie was thrilled to know that he wouldn't be stuck with a dumb girl
fuzzy who couldn't talk good and didn't like squeakies--my opinion
anyway). We opened de door and on de counter was a big box, of course.
He opened de box and took out de wings--bright blue with racing
cars--perfect for a fuzzy named Zippie. I helped him put on his wings
and Winston adjusted his halo. Then he ran to de big vanity mirror and
gazed at his reflection. A handsome chocolate mitt looked back at him.
Mercy, he hadn't felt so good in a long time. Then he turned to me and
said, "Gee, I wish Mommy could see me now." Den I gots an idea.

So we left there and went down de path to de Misting Pond. We sat down
beside de cool clear water. With one swish we saw a vision of Mommy Pat
appear. Zippie got so excited he started waving and dooking with all of
his might.

"I love you Mommy. Thank you for loving me. I got here ok. I have
friends here. I feel lots better now. I have beautiful wings with race
cars on them and soon I will be able to fly. Oh yeah, they say they
have a Mudslide here. I can't wait to play on it. It sounds like fun."

Then he began to throw hugs and kisses and wrapped them with all of his
love and laid them (plus a tiny piece of a blue and white terrycloth
elephant) on a nearby shooting star which was headed to your house and
by de time you should read dis it should have landed there. And with
another swish de vision was gone.

We left there and went across the path and down a fork in the road thru
the sweet williams and saw two fuzzies with a sign which read "Welcome
Zippie.: They introduced themselves to him as Willie and Pooh Bear.
Zippie turned to me and said, "Gee you were right. I do have some
friends here. Mommy wasn't telling me stories then." Then we saw their
cottage. A picnic was set up outside. Mercy there was sure a lot of
food. He was amazed at all the fuzzies who were there. He wondered who
they were. I told him that they were friends and neighbors who stopped
by to welcome him and had brought food and music over. Besides fuzzies
always like a party. Before I knew it, Zippie became part of a group
just chattering away like old friends. It was really great like they
had known each other all of their lives. I was invited to stay and eat
and dance. But I had things to do so I said my goodbyes. I waved to
Zippie and went on my way.

So ended another greeting at de Bridge.

Lovey and hugs,
SaraFerret, bridgegreeter

[Posted in FML 6637]